The 2005 Obvious Article Award Goes To...

...Cindy Loose, who wrote this piece (Buenos Aires, Always in Style) in tomorrow's Washington Post. There's been a boom in travel writing about Argentine, sometimes bad, but often very interesting stuff. This makes it hard for a writer because, well, it's sorta all been done. So, instead of try to outdo existing articles or come up with a unique angle, Loose has chosen a fascinating conceit for her piece: she writes as if no one else has ever written about the country or, really, even visited it. As the first American to discover Buenos Aires, she is therefore free to indulge any observation that comes to mind. What arises is a fascinating compendium of every B.A. cliche known to man. It's actually endearing if you look at it as a kind of "meta" travel piece commenting on the state of travel writing today.

Some gems of observation:

"There's a high beauty quotient among the people of Argentina, and they dress with flair."
"...Paris, which I've come to think of as the Buenos Aires of Europe."
"...visiting Buenos Aires is like going to Europe and finding that everything is half-off American prices."
And of course, the obligatory dance reference:
"...tango, the sultry heart and most internationally recognized symbol of Buenos Aires."